Here are 5 things you can do with that #IWantANewSmartphone money

Let’s say you were at a party, or a similar. Social gathering. Let’s then say that you and your friends were doing what the dot com generation does best – doing stuff on your phone. Let’s then say that you happened to take a break off doing stuff on your phone and looked around at the guys you were with and it was determined (verbally or not verbally) that your phone wasn’t the eye catcher in the group. In fact, let’s say that it was not even visible because at least half the people had bigger screens, louder speakers, and even more airtime! (you found out about the airtime because one of them complained that it was too much, they were considering looking for change for it!)

Now, you go back home, and think to yourself, “I have money. I’m going to buy a better phone!!! I’ll show them….!”
Before you make that impulse purchase, here’s 5 techie things to consider doing instead..!

1. Open a PayPal account (and maybe do business!)

If you don’t know what PayPal is, go here. Moving on.. So, yes! PayPal – do you already have an account there? Nope?
Well, all you need is a bank account that comes with a VISA DEBIT (not Electron, they’re not the same things).
What you do is, open up an account (I opened mine with Crane bank) and when you get your card, it should have the 16 digit code at the front, and the 4 numbers at the back. There, you’re set. Go to the PayPal website and sign up. Fill in the card details too. Then confirm/verify your account. They’ll deduct some money (less than a dollar) from your account, and you will go to the bank and get your bank statement. It will have a 4 digit transaction code that comes with the money PayPal deducted. (ask the guys at the bank if you don’t know or can’t see it..).
After punching in the code on your PayPal account, you’ll be verified and they’ll refund your money.

2. Get an Arduino or similar

That one, in case you don’t know, is a fancy gadget also known as a programmable logic board. If you’re a tinkerer, then this will be awesome! In lay man’s terms, it’s a board that you can do cool things with.From the trivial like switching on lights with a button to the mega like setting your coffee maker to make you a cup everyday at 7 a.m, these small programmable circuit boards can be used for literally anything!

Oh, and there’s a step-by-step guide for the common enthusiast and curious cat! You will require a computer though.

3. Get a Raspberry Pi

Errrm, noo this is not food. It’s a computer! And guess what? It is smaller than a loaf of bread(1kg). To put it in terms of bans, If you get 4 bans and place them side by side to make a square, that’s it’s approximate size!
And there’s more! It is fully functional upon buying! Switch on, connect peripherals, and start retweeting..

4. Fund a Fezah (or Kickstarter) campaign

No; for real, you don’t have to be a big guy to give away money.. As always, you can start small. The point is to put it where it will make sense [even if not immediately].

For instance, Fezah is an online platform for you to give the creatives you like money. Remember how you used to dance in nursery and primary, and your parents would walk up to the stage and put money in your pocket? Take that and put it on the internets and you have Fezah! There’s also Kickstarter for if you want to push. it. to. the. limit. [Yes, all those projects got funded!]

5. Give it to the guys at 40-40

“Ah, what’s wrong with this guy telling us to give away money??” Before you think that, this is (a) not a duplicate point because #4 was about funding, whereas #5 is about helping those in need and (b) there are always benefits to giving – and here’s proof!

40-40 is a community of youths who said “to hell with sitting around, we’re going to uplift our own!” and got off their couches, put their smartphones aside, and went out to identify fellow Ugandans they could help, even if just once. What resulted was a humanitarian movement, fueled only by social media! Check out their Facebook and Twitter – jump on board!

So, there you go. Your phone isn’t THAT bad (unless you can’t read this article on it because it can’t surf). There are 5 #GeekWeek ways to spice up your (and potentially someone else’s) life!

Migisha might or might not be insane - we haven't yet taken him for check-up!
When he's not drawing all sorts of things, he's writing code.
However, his love for the arts is like a disease that just won't cure - and rightly so :)